Isn't life beautiful?
by HouseFan
Summary: About Red, her husband Dmitri, and what made the inmates of Litchfield come together and cooperate for once. The first bit is kind of gloomy, there will be more humor and fun stuff later. Set in a time when Red isn't running the kitchen any more but has all her girls by her side, so maybe some time after S2.
1. Chapter 1 - Time to go

_Authors note: My first OITNB-fanfic, and my first fanfic over all in a long time. Set in a time when Red isn't running the kitchen any more but has all her girls by her side, so maybe some time after S2. The first bit is kind of gloomy, there will be more humor and fun stuff later. Also, I know the actress who portrays Red is nearly 60 but I imagine Red as a bit younger than that. And there might be stuff mentioned on the show about that I haven't noticed, about Red's family or otherwise, but this is my spin on it. Enjoy!_

**Time to go**

Not much went unnoticed at Litchfield. When Red was called into Mr. Healy's office, people began whispering right away. It was like a soft breeze blowing through the prison halls.

"Did you see how serious he looked? Like, more than usual, I mean. Like seriously serious, kind of…"

"I bet she's in some kind of trouble. Maybe they'll send her away, even. He had that look on his face."

Galina "Red" Reznikow sat down opposite the corrections officer. Before Sam Healy opened his mouth she could read in his face what he was about to say.

"It's nearing the end now, Red. I'm sorry." The silver-haired man looked at her with a rare look of real empathy. "They called about an hour ago. There's nothing more to do now."

She nodded, didn't want to speak. All she wanted was to get out of this room. Without thinking to ask for permission to leave, she stood up and headed for the door. Her walk was unsteady as she crossed the office floor; it was as if someone had hit her over the head with something hard. She was feeling dizzy, almost ill. The sound of Mr. Healy's voice stopped her as she placed a shaky hand on the doorknob.

"I think this is one of those cases where you might actually be able to get furlough. We can try, at least. Would you like that?"

She turned to face him. Again she nodded, without a word.

"I thought Red's husband was dead?" Gina Murphy leaned over the lunch table, not wanting everyone around to hear the discussion. "I mean, he's never been here, not once."

"I figured he was in prison, too, I mean, they ran their little business together, right?" Yoga Jones also kept her voice down.

"I always thought he'd let her take the fall. That he was nicely settled with some young, blonde new wife now, leaving Red to rot in here." Lorna Morello was gnawing on a piece of corn cob as she shared her two cents.

"No…" Nicky mumbled as she glanced at Norma. The two of them knew more about the whereabouts of Dmitri Reznikow than any of the others. Norma sent her younger friend a look as though to say, "Go head. Tell them."

"There was a shooting… some mob guys and the police had it in for each other, I don't know…" Nicky shrugged. "Anyway, Mr. Red got in the middle of it all. He got shot in all the wrong places, all the places that don't kill you, it just makes you wish it had. Red ended up in here, and he's in a hospital bed somewhere. You know it's bad when they let someone who is supposed to be in the cage stay on the outside permanently."

"That's awful!" Sister Ingalls had a look of shock in her eyes. "Poor man. Poor Red!"

"How do you know this?" Morello was a bit curt that she hadn't heard this story before.

"Red told me once. Apparently the guy's been in and out of comas, he's blind, he's partly paralyzed… And she can't do nothing for him. She tried to get her sons to get him better care somewhere, but they can't afford it. That shit's expensive. So he's stuck in this shitty place the state put him in. Red said it hurts to even think about it. That day she told me, I think it was their anniversary or something. She was really down and I think she'd snuck a drink or two. It was back in her kitchen ruling days."

"So now they're letting her see him, before he goes, huh?" Yoga took a sip of her water. "That's the system for you. No favors until it's too late."

"Yeah, Healy said he'd try, he'd get them to hurry. Said it could happen really soon." Nicky still hadn't eaten; she was just fiddling with her tray. "He even let her stay in her bunk for the day."

And in her bunk, squeezing a pillow to her chest, lay Red. "My Dima…" she whispered to herself over and over. She didn't cry, scream or whine, she just kept whispering the words again and again. Eventually she drifted off into a restless, nightmarish sleep.


	2. Chapter 2 - Q&A

**Q&A**

Red came back from her short furlough in the same uncharacteristically passive and sorry state she had been before she left. Pale and quiet she wandered among them, as if not really present. She ate, slept, participated in mandatory activities like cleaning and such, but did it all with a sort of distance the others hadn't seen before.

"Isn't it for the best, really, when you think about it?" Nicky tried to comfort her one day when she and Lorna had come over to Red's cubicle. Chapman was over on her own bunk, reading a book. "I mean, you got to see him off. For all we know he might be in a better place now. Or just… in a big hole of nothing. Either way I'm sure it beats the life he had at the end."

"Yeah, and now, if you ever find someone else, you're a free woman! I mean, after you're not an inmate at a women's prison any more, of course…" Lorna chimed in.

"I think what Oprah and Dr. Phil here are trying to say…" Piper put her book away and sat up, "…is that you must allow your life to on without him, Red. I know it must be hard, but there's no other option. Either you go on or you go under."

"Yeah, what she said," Nicky agreed, and Lorna nodded.

"Yup. Ain't gonna do you no good to act like this anymore, Red, you have to get back to your old self. Start bossing us around again." She sent Red what she hoped was an encouraging smile, but it was answered with a huff.

"I feel dead inside. You girls spewing out all the cliché phrases in the world won't change that. Now leave me alone." Red turned towards the cubicle wall. Nicky stood up with a deep sigh, and left. After a moment's hesitation, Lorna followed her, exchanging a look with Piper on her way out.

Silence followed for a few seconds, and Piper went back to her book. Then she heard Red's deep voice from the other bunk.

"You know what the worst part was, Chapman? You know what hurt the most?"

"I thought you wanted to be left alone…" Piper mumbled.

"What?" Red turned around again now.

"Nothing. Tell me what the worst part was." Piper put her book down once more.

"The thing that hurt the most wasn't seeing how ill he was. It was seeing how well he really was, how he understood everything going on around him." Red closed her eyes. It was painful to talk about this, but she had to get it out. It didn't really matter if Piper or anyone else listened, as long as the words got to leave her lips.

"All these years we've been apart I've tried to convince myself that my Dmitri was gone. That what was left of him was a shell, a person I didn't know, a man who wouldn't miss me if he never saw me again." She opened her eyes. "But when I walked into that room, that ugly, smelly, tiny room, and took one of his hands in mine… He knew who I was. We talked. About the past, about the boys, all the dreams we had. He smiled that sweet smile of his. Yes, he was blind, and he was barely able to move, he breathed like a fish on land, and he was skinnier than I'd ever seen him before. But he was mine, Chapman. My husband. He had been there all this time, and now he is gone."

There was a loud sob, but it came from Piper, not from Red.

"Would you like a hug?" the younger woman offered.

"I'll pass, thanks." Red was able to smile now. It was a sad, little smile, but at least it was there.

"Where you there when he died?" Piper asked.

"Yes. There was only one nurse there that night. That woman was a decent human being if ever I saw one. She could see that we needed all the time we could get. She let me stay with him after visiting hours were over. I stayed all night. At first I sat by his bed, holding his hand. Then after a while, he asked me "What is the matter, Galya? Can't stand the though of a night in bed with your own husband?" He had that same mocking tone as always. So I climbed into bed with him." Red paused for a bit. "When he drew his last breath the next morning, I was still lying there, with his good arm around me."

"Oh, Red…" Piper was blinking a tear from one of her eyes now. "I'm so sorry."

"Since then I have felt… empty. I know deep down that not much had changed. I am here. He is not. Just like always. Still, before I never felt quite this… alone."

"You're not alone, Red, you have your girls in here. And your boys out there…" Piper knew there was a lot of tension between Red and her sons, but she also knew Red still loved them a lot.

"I know. But what Dima and I had, it was different. We were a team, the two of us against all the other bastards out there in this fucked-up world. And now that has gone. It makes me feel very, very…"

"Shitty!" Piper finished Red's sentence for her. The Russian woman nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Very shitty indeed." She yawned deeply. "I need to sleep now." Then she mumbled almost inaudibly: "Thanks for listening, Chapman."

"Good night. I hope you feel slightly less shitty in the morning," Piper tried.

"I wouldn't bet on it…" Red mumbled to herself as she rolled over and closed her eyes.

And she was right. Days, weeks, even months went by, and Red was as unpleasant to be around as ever. Though she had always had a temper, this was a whole new level of irritation. When Sister Ingalls accidentally dropped a piece of her bread into Red's bowl of soup, the entire content of the bowl was immediately poured over her head. When Black Cindy happened to hang her jacket over Red's cubicle wall, she found the jacket hanging in the same spot half an hour later, but finely cut into narrow strips. And when Crazy Eyes mistook the cup of water Red had left on a table in the TV room for her own and took a sip… No, Red didn't throw it at her, she wasn't stupid, but she did snarl in an unusually scary manner, making Crazy Eyes run from the room covering her ears.

"This has got to stop! I mean I get that she's upset, her husband died and all. But it's like she's not mainly sad anymore, she's just fucking mad," Nicky complained to a group in the bathroom one evening. "It's like… I don't know. Crazy Eyes and Pensatucky's love child. On speed. "

"Also, she's not looking like herself. She's kind of… green in the face. And Red's not supposed to be green. Those aren't complimentary colors." Big Boo chimed in.

"Actually, they are, according to some color models…" Piper pointed out.

"Oh shut up, Chapman." Boo gave Piper a comradely push as she passed her on the way out of the room. The others were leaving as well, when Piper grabbed Nicky by the shirt and held her back.

"I was thinking I could talk to Red…" she began.

"Count me out!" Nicky interrupted her, not wanting to be a part of this at all.

"Please, Nicky, come with me. I need someone there so she won't kill me, or at least so that I have a witness if she does." Piper joked. "I think I know what's really going on here. I just want to clear up a few things."

"It'll cost you." Nicky was slightly less unwilling now that there was a promise of change at stake.

"I have some Oreos under my pillow, I'll give you those. There should be five or six left, unless Boo has been by." Piper offered. Nicky nodded as a sign that this was an acceptable trade, and the two of them went to see Red in the cubicle she and Piper shared.

"Red, can we have a word?" Piper had her serious face on, hoping it would trick both Red and herself into thinking that she wasn't scared.

"What she meant to say was; can _she_ have a word?" Nicky corrected her.

"What is it?" Red was in bed reading a book. She didn't even take her eyes of the page as the other two approached her.

"Well… How should I begin?" Piper hesitated. "We all know you've been feeling down lately, and I was just wondering, in the interest that, if I can ask you a few simple questions."

"All the questions in the world can not take away the pain I feel. But go ahead and ask, and I will decide afterwards if I want to answer." Red still wasn't looking away from her book.

"OK, question one. How old are you?" Piper's question made Nicky pull a face. Not only was it a strange question, it was potentially an insulting one. But Red seemed unaffected.

"Old enough that you should know better than to ask," she answered simply and turned a page.

"OK, fine, let me ask this way; that bloody tampon that you gave me once, was that yours?" Once again Piper's words made Nicky react.

"Come on, Chapman, do you want to die, or what? Don't bring up that old story, I'm begging you!" Red however, was still calm, at least on the outside.

"I'm warning you, Chapman, I know where you sleep…" she said, in a sing-song voice, still not turning her head.

"I don't want to insult you, absolutely not, I just… I really need to know… When you had that last night with your husband, did you have sex with him?"

This time, Piper's question set of an explosion. "Chapman?!" Nicky exclaimed, knowing this was going to be bad. Red flung her book towards Piper, then quickly got up and placed a cold hand around the younger woman's chin.

"How dare you?" she growled. "How dare you talk about the relationship between me and my Dima? What gives you the right to stick that pretty little nose of yours into our personal affairs?" She was now pushing Piper towards her own bunk.

"I was just thinking, you've been kind of moody, and you've been sick all the time, and you seem to have a craving for those disgusting cookies with bits of raisin in them from commissary, so I was thinking maybe you're pregnant. Please don't hit me, Red!" Piper begged as Red's continuous walk towards her forced her to drop down on her bunk.

"What?" Nicky giggled. "Come on now. You've gotta be kidding. Red's too old for that kind of stuff. She's a grandma, a babushka, she can't be pregnant, right, Red?"

But Red was like frozen. She stood by Piper's bed, where Piper was curling up in preparation for any hits that might or might not come, but it was as if the red-haired woman didn't even see her anymore. She just stood there for a few seconds, saying nothing, staring into the air in front of her. Then she opened her mouth and mumbled; "Oh God, Dima. What have we done now?"


	3. Chapter 3 - Piper, don't preach

**Piper, don't preach**

"Wouldn't it be a good idea if we knew for sure before we make a big deal out of this?" Sister Ingalls said. Red's gang was gathered in the currently unused greenhouse, and Piper had been invited along for once because of her involvement in the matter. "I mean, what's the point of us all losing our heads if this turns out to be nothing?"

As a reply Red flung a small object towards her. It was a pregnancy test.

"I peed on that thing this morning." Red's words made Ingalls quickly turn the object in her hand, so that she was holding it by the clean end. "See those two lines on there? That's not what I call 'nothing'!"

"Where did you get that?" Lorna asked as the women huddled up around Sister Ingalls. "I thought they closed the sewer."

"I had it already. Got it for some Latina a while ago, but she started bleeding before she got a chance to use it. So I held on to it, figured someone else would need it in time. It was already paid for." Red smirked. She'd never have thought she'd be the one to pee on the little stick.

"Holy shit…" Nicky couldn't quite grasp what she was seeing. "Those are two blue lines all right. Are we sure this thing is good? They can expire, or go sour, or something, can't they?"

"It's fine, I checked the box." Red was getting slightly annoyed now. "Do you believe me, or what? Myself, I have not doubted it since Chapman opened my eyes yesterday. I should have realized long ago, I don't know how I could be so blind."

"How did you figure it out, Chapman?" Lorna wondered. Again someone had discovered something before her, and she was not too happy about that.

"I just noticed she'd been throwing up sometimes, and eating a lot of cookies." What Piper didn't want to mention was that living as close together as she and Red did, it was impossible not to notice when someone gained a bit of weight, even if it was only a few pounds.

"So, you were gone in early March… It's nearly the end of May now," Gina said.

"And you seem happier than you have in a while. Can we assume you're keeping it?" Yoga asked.

"You're damn right I am," was Red's short reply.

A short silence occurred. Everyone suddenly felt a need to let the information they had gotten in the last few minutes sink in. Finally, Sister Ingalls spoke.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order. All though you aren't the first person I'd normally compare to the Virgin Mary, you are experiencing a miracle, Red, and I am happy for you."

"Yeah, a miracle that'll be torn from your arms and kept from you for years to come." Nicky wasn't quite willing to share the Ingalls' enthusiasm.

"Not if I can stop it." Red said.

"You can't. You know how it works. We've all seen it happen." Nicky pushed on.

"Try not to be so negative, Nicky. Someone, maybe one of Red's sons or another relative, will look after the baby and bring it in here for visitations. And it's not like any of us are planning to stay here forever, there will be life after Litchfield for us all." Sister Ingalls was determined not to let Nicky give Red an excuse to slip back into her dark mood.

"You've misunderstood me, Sister." Red's voice was calm and quiet. "I am not letting anyone take this baby away from me."

"And just how are you going to prevent that from happening?" It was Boo who asked what they all wondered.

"I will not let them know there is a baby to take." Red made it sound like this would be the easiest thing in the world.

"You mean… you're not going to tell the guards that you're pregnant?" Piper seemed astonished. "Red, that is… that's insane! You have to tell them! You have to tell them today! Or at least soon, so that they can get you to a doctor, get you the vitamins and stuff that you are going to need… At your age I'm sure they're going to want to monitor you closely."

"I will not tell them. Nor will any of you. I will be fine without their care and their pills." Red was still calm.

"But… they'll know, won't they?" Lorna asked. "I mean… You'll get all… fat. They'll see it."

"Boo is fat." Red pointed out. Boo nodded, with an expression that clearly said she wouldn't dispute that statement. "As are a lot of other girls in here. Nobody suspects that they are having babies just because they like to eat," Red continued. "Lorna, let me tell you something. Let me tell all of you something; I am turning 50 later this year. No one in their right mind sees a woman my age gain weight and jumps to the conclusion that there is a baby inside her."

She was talking louder now, and her whole being was beginning to resemble that of a leader again. "Listen, girls!" she said, casting a glance at the door, making sure no one was approaching. "I know I've been a bitch lately. I have been feeling down. I felt like life had nothing more to offer me, like there was no good reason to have hope for the future. Now I feel like there is something good to come. Dmitri and I, we were constantly up to no good together. Ever since we were schoolchildren back in Russia, we always found a way to stick it to the system, whether it was stealing apples from our headmaster's backyard, or the things we did that caused me to end up in here. Now it is as if Dmitri has given me a farewell-present. I will not simply hand that gift over to someone else, to them. You know I am a mother in my heart and in my soul, and a mother protects her children."

"So… what's the plan? Giving birth in the bathroom and hide the kid under your pillow until they let you of here?" Boo asked.

"I don't have a plan yet," Red admitted. "But I will think of something. I will manage. I always do."

"Red, come on!" Piper was getting more desperate now. "You can't do this. It's… it's mad!"

"Chapman, don't make me regret I included you in this." The look Red sent Piper resembled that of a strict schoolmistress to an unruly student. "This is my decision."

"But you guys have to agree that this is crazy?" Piper turned to the rest of the group for support.

"It does seem kinda… impossible," Lorna agreed.

"They check everything we have, all the time. We can't hide anything from them." Gina said.

"Nonsense. I've hidden more concealers and shampoo bottles and razor blades and whatnot in this joint than I can count!" Red argued.

"Yeah, but… That kind of stuff doesn't wake up in the middle of the night and start screaming for food. Just sayin'. There's a difference," Boo said.

"Would y'all just stop it for a minute?" It was Nicky who spoke. She stood up from the turned-over box she had been sitting on. "I agree that this all sounds a bit unreal. But guys, this is Red. She has been a mother to me for a while now, and I know she has to some of you, too. She deserves our support in this matter. She is willing to do whatever it takes to take care of her baby. Lord knows if someone had shown me half that much love and dedication when I was a kid, I'd probably not be in here today." Nicky walked up to Red, and stood next to her. "I'm just saying that I get it, that's all. I get that she wants a little glimmer of hope in here, in this lousy shit-hole. I don't know how it's gonna work, but I get it."

"Thank you, Nicky." Red reached out, took the younger woman's hand in hers, and squeezed it. "So, are any of you going to blab?"

There was a mishmash of variations of "Of course not" from the others, except for one.

"Chapman?" It was Nicky who pointed out the quiet one. Piper sighed deeply.

"I won't tell. I promise."

Suddenly they heard a voice from outside. It was O'Neill, the guard.

"Inmates, get inside, now! It's getting dark out!" His voice seemed to come from a bit of a distance, but it still made the women hurry out of the building. Only Nicky remained where she was, still holding on to Red's hand, so that she had to stay as well.

"Wait, Red, I just…" She wasn't sure how to say it. "I just wanted to… You know I'm there for you, right?"

"Nicky…" Red looked into those big brown eyes that were desperately trying to tell her something. "I know. You are my daughter, and you _do_ bring me hope and happiness. I just lost sight of that for a little while. And even if I had a thousand more children, you would still be special to me. I hope you know that."

"Stop it, I'm not five," Nicky said, with a giggle in her voice. "I'm a big girl."

"I know. Come here, my big girl." Red hugged her adoptive daughter tightly to her chest, and they stayed in the embrace for a little while before letting go. "Dmitri would have liked you, I know he would. Now, let's go inside before they come to get us."


	4. Chapter 4 - Suspicious minds

**Suspicious minds**

Summer came, and the warm weather made most of the inmates stick to tank tops or t-shirts to make life in the practically un-air-conditioned prison building more comfortable. Red however, kept her sweat jacket on and zipped, even on the warmest days, in an attempt to conceal the growing bump in her belly.

She had begun eating more. A lot more. Not even Boo could keep up these days, when Red stuffed herself with whatever the kitchen was serving.

"It's like that time Chapman wasn't allowed food for days and then we gave her permission to eat again!" Lorna observed one day at lunch as Red had just devoured her entire meal in record time.

"Oh, shut up." Red turned to Gina, who was sitting next to her. "Are you going to eat that pudding?"

"Yes…" Gina tried, but Red had already taken the little bowl from her tray.

"Wrong answer!" she exclaimed as she started to dig in.

"Hey Red…" Nicky kept her voice down. "You might want to slow down a bit on the eating. I mean, people are gonna get suspicious."

"A person eating and gaining weight is not something worth becoming suspicious about. That's natural." Red kept chewing as she was speaking, also making sure she was keeping her voice level to a minimum. "However, a person not eating any more than they normally do and still gaining weight, that's something that will make people wonder. So I am eating this way to avoid having any questions asked. Now, give me your pudding as well."

Nicky sighed and did as she was told.

"Makes some kind of sense, I guess…" she mumbled.

A few tables over, another group were also having a discussion.

"Look at them, whispering and being all secretive…" Taystee was looking over at Red's group. "And they're giving Red their desserts, too!"

"They're up to something, that's for sure." Poussey took a sip of her water. "I bet she's promised them something. Something they really, really want."

"We have to get to the bottom of this." Black Cindy couldn't quite hide her smile. There was nothing like a good mystery to make life in prison slightly more interesting. "They think they can keep stuff from us, do they? Not gonna happen!"

"Hell no!" Watson agreed.

"We're gonna track down their secret like a bee tracking down honey!" Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" had most graciously been allowed to sit at the same table as the others and was eager to contribute to the conversation.

"A bee makes honey, stupid," Taystee pointed out, and Crazy Eyes shrugged.

"Ah well, you know what I mean."

Only Sophia remained silent. She had her own theory as to what was going on with Red. She knew a thing or two about what made boobs grow the way Red's had lately. It had to be the work of hormones; similar to the ones Sophia took in pill form. Also, the last time she had worked on Red's hair, the "customer" had pinched her nose throughout the session, claiming the smell made her feel ill. Oh yes, Sophia had a strong suspicion, but she also had a strong feeling it would be best to leave some things unsaid for now.

The secrecy of Red's group hadn't gone unnoticed over at the food counter either.

"They're doing something dodgy," Flaca concluded. "Sticking their heads together, whispering and shit."

"Yeah, and they way they always walk together in a crowd lately," Maritza agreed. "What's up with that?"

"We'd better keep an eye on them," Flaca declared. "If they're planning some kind of stunt, we've gotta find out about it."

"Basta! Stop talking nonsense and concentrate on your work!" Gloria had come up to them from behind. "Get a move on."

Leaving the two girls to do their job, Gloria went back into the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets. She knew what those women were talking about, at least she felt pretty sure. Surely no one could eat pickles dipped in chocolate spread unless they had some sort of serious hormonal imbalance going on? Red might think no one would notice if there was missing a half-empty jar here and a pickle there, but Gloria kept a record over every shelf, drawer and box in the kitchen; she knew when somebody had helped herself to a snack. She had seen Red hanging around her old territory a lot lately, prying to see when the place was empty.

Gloria grabbed a brown paper bag from one of the shelves in the cabinet, looked around to make sure she was still alone in the room, and then took a small bag of pickles and a new glass of Nutella from another. She put both items in the bag and closed it tightly. Some of the inmates were beginning to leave the dining hall now. Gloria went up to the kitchen door and stood there, discreetly waiting as people went by her.

"Red, a word?"

Her words made the entire passing group come to a halt.

"What do you want?" It was Nicky who spoke, her voice dark and distrustful.

"Like I said, a word with Red." Gloria kept her eyes on the Russian woman.

"It's OK, you girls go on, I'll catch up." Red stepped out of the group and entered the kitchen with Gloria.

"You have them on a tight leash lately. Every time I try to glance at your belly, there one of them is, sliding in to cover you."

"Why would you try and look at my belly? I don't understand…" Red tried.

"Save it." Gloria handed her the paper bag. "Here. Knock yourself out." She had to smile when she saw Red's confused face as she peeked into the bag. "I was always more into peanuts in custard myself, but hey…whatever floats your boat. And don't worry. My lips are sealed."

Red closed the bag tightly and pulled the zipper on her jacket down a bit to hide her goods in there. "Thank you," she said, with a little smile, as she zipped back up.

She headed for the door, but stopped and turned, as she was a few steps away from it.

"Don't get me wrong, but… it's not like you, Mendoza, being so kind, at least not to me," she said, looking at the other woman.

"In here, you never know when you'll be needing someone else's kindness. You're on the recipient end this time, enjoy it while it lasts. And don't come snooping in here again. You need something, just ask." Gloria began wiping off one of the counters with a sponge. "Go on now."

"Thank you." Red repeated, and left the room, now hiding two secrets under her clothes.


	5. Chapter 5 - When you're good to mama

**When you're good to mama, mama's good to you**

Summer became fall, and soon fall was slowly turning to winter. Cold days became even colder days, the kind of days when you just want to take a long, hot shower before getting into a nice warm bed.

"Fuck! That was not 30 seconds, not even close!" The shriek came from one of the broken showers in the C-block. Taystee had barely been able to get her hair moist before brown goo began pouring out of the pipes. "Shit! I'm so sick of this!"

"Why are we even stuck in this shit bathroom anymore?" Poussey had just finished her own short, cold shower and was now getting dressed while waiting for her friend. The two women were alone in the room. "We should demand our old bathroom back from the Latinas!" As she spoke, Taystee stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel. "Did you get any on you?"

"No." Taystee shook her head, as she stepped around one of the holes the plumbers had left in the floor before they abandoned the work. "But I'd still give my right arm for a proper wash! I'm starting to smell like fucking Soso!"

"You know, the Spanish Harlem bathroom is always packed. But you might have some luck in the white one. It's getting late, maybe no one is in there now," Poussey suggested as she put on her sweater.

"Yeah, I don't know… They've been sticking together an awful lot over there lately." Taystee said. "But, oh, man, standing there for just a couple of minutes all to myself… I'd be a whole new woman after that."

"Then go for it! Worst case scenario; they tell you to leave. Big deal, right?" Poussey smiled. "You'd better hurry, though, the lights go out soon."

Shortly thereafter Taystee was peeking into the E-block showers, shouting out a little "Hello?" as she entered the room. She thought she heard water running somewhere, but quickly decided she had to have imagined it. There wasn't a sound to be heard now. She stripped of the clothes she had thrown on, left them by the sinks, and brought a towel over to the first shower.

Minutes earlier, Red had entered the same room in a very similar fashion. She had always liked to shower on her own, but now that she was showing more than ever, the lonely showers were a necessity rather than a luxury. She had just begun to soap up, and was rubbing the sides of her aching back with both hands when she heard a voice. Quickly she slammed her hand onto the tap and got the water to turn off.

"Fuck…" she whispered to herself. She was trapped now. She knew she should have gotten Norma or someone else to stand guard, but she was so sick and tired of having to ask people for favors all the time. Red was used to be more independent than she had been for the past few months, and although she was grateful for the way her girls protected her, she didn't want to ask them for more than she absolutely had to.

So now she was squeezing herself into the corner of the booth, desperately hoping that whoever had entered would leave again.

If anyone had asked Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson what she thought she might see inside the first shower in the E-block bathroom, the answer "A 50-year old naked white woman with an obviously pregnant belly trying to hide in the corner" would probably not have been very high up on her list.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed, not quite believing her own eyes. She froze for a moment as her eyes wandered from the stretchmark-covered belly, to Red's face, and then back down again.

"Red?" Her voice was lower this time. The two naked women looked at each other, one in disbelief, one with desperation.

"Yes," Red whispered. "Please don't scream again, someone might come…"

But it was too late. Wanda Bell, one of the guards, had heard Taystee's voice, and was now entering the bathroom. "Hello? Who's in here? What's going on?" she shouted as she walked briskly through the room.

Red sighed to herself. This was it, it was over now. But before she could speak up, Taystee put her index finger to her own lips for a split second, before running towards the guard, while wrapping herself in the towel she was carrying.

"It's only me, sir, I mean, ma'am!" she called out.

"Jefferson? What are you doing in here? It's the wrong block and the wrong hour of day for you to be showering," the guard said, clearly annoyed.

"Just trying to keep clean, like it says in the regulations," Taystee's voice was loud and hectic. "Our own showers aren't giving us nothing but shit these days, pardon my French!" She was still a bit confused and not quite aware of what she was saying. "So anyway, I came here and I saw this… uhm… this huge big spider by the drain over there. It was this big!" she showed the guard using her index finger and her thumb.

"Really?" Bell shuddered a bit, she was afraid of all spiders, even the small ones, never mind a beast like the one Taystee had just described. Her revulsion hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Want me to show you?" Taystee offered.

"No." Bell took a few steps back. "Get outta here now. Come on, grab your clothes."

Taystee glanced over towards the shower booths as she pulled her pants and shirt back on. There was no sign of Red, she kept herself hidden.

"You done yet? Hurry up, inmate!" Bell was waiting over by the door, as far away from the legendary spider as possible without actually leaving the room.

"Coming…" She pulled on her outer shirt for the second time after having been in a shower that day. _"And yet I still smell like shit,"_ she thought to herself. She glanced in the direction she knew to be Red's one more time as she left the room. Oh well, at least she'd done a good deed.

The next day, as Taystee left the cafeteria after dinner, Gina approached her.

"Come," she said shortly.

"Come where?"

"Just come."

She took off, and Taystee decided it couldn't hurt to follow.

It turned out they were going to the E-block showers. Gina guided her towards a booth, and pointed to the floor. Once again Taystee was shocked to see what was in there, but this time the surprise was a positive one. There were bottles of shampoo and conditioner, shower gel, a loofa, and even some body lotion.

"Wow! It's like a spa!" Taystee was impressed, and couldn't hide it.

"Courtesy of Red. She appreciates your discretion. No one will disturb you for the next hour." And with those words, Gina was gone.

And as Taystee was finally beginning to smell like coconut and papaya, while humming Beyoncé-songs and generally just enjoying life, Red was curled up in her bunk, covering herself with a blanket while stroking her belly gently with one hand.

"It's getting harder to hide you every day now," she whispered to whoever was in there. "And even harder it will get. Try and stay inside me as long as you can, please. Life out here is complicated enough as it is."

"Beginning to dawn on you, huh?" It was Piper; she had entered the cubicle without Red noticing. "Sooner or later that baby's coming out, Red. How long do you have left, a month?"

"Give or take. The middle of next month, I reckon." Red stroked her belly once more. "It will work out somehow. I know it will."

"You know I don't believe that."

"And you know that I don't care."

Piper didn't know how to respond to that, so she just shrugged and sat down on her bunk.

"Maybe I'll get to see him or her before I go."

"Go? Go where?" Red wasn't following.

"My sentence is almost up. December 14th." Piper explained. "So I'll be out by Christmas." Then she figured it was as good a time as any to ask a question she had wanted to ask for a while. "What about you, when are you getting out?"

"Best case scenario, five years from now." Red looked her younger roommate in the eye. "Five years of learning, achievements, disappointments. Five years of moments of immense joy, moments of unbearable sadness, and everything in-between. Five years of discovering what life is, Chapman. A mother shouldn't have to miss that. I know you don't understand why I want to do this. Well, what can I say? Come back when you've had children. Then we can talk."

"You're right, I don't understand." Piper got back on her feet. "I don't understand how you even for a second can think you're going to be able to hide a child in here. I don't understand why you're willing to go through childbirth without having any form of medical personnel present. But most of all, I don't understand how anyone could let someone they love live their life in this shithole when there are other options, let alone their own child. I will never understand that, Red. I just won't." And with those words, she stomped off.


	6. Chapter 6 - Home for Christmas

_Authors note: I've been meaning to say thanks for the nice reviews people have left for me. They really motivate me to keep writing, so if you're wondering if you should leave one or not, please do. Thanks!_

**Home for Christmas**

Piper didn't get to see Red's baby before she was released. Her last month in Litchfield became a rather lonely one. After her argument with Red, everyone in the group avoided her, and once again she sat alone at mealtime, like an unpopular high school student. At night, the two bunkmates remained silent as they got ready for bed. Neither had anything to say to the other. During the day they were hardly ever in the same room, unless they couldn't avoid it.

Then December 14th came. Piper had gathered her belongings and was sitting on her bunk in the cubicle, waiting for the final order she would ever receive at Litchfield; the order to leave, when two people unexpectedly approached her. It was Lorna and Nicky.

"I'm surprised you two are allowed to be seen near me," Piper said, coldly, not getting up.

"We just came to say good bye," Lorna said. "Who knows, we might never see you again."

"And also to make sure you haven't changed you mind about the whole snitching-thing, now that you're getting out," Nicky added.

"You can tell Red not to worry about me. I'm not telling." Piper's voice was dark and firm. "You guys can go back to worrying about the real problem – keeping her kid hidden in here."

"We'll manage." Nicky sat down on Red's bunk, opposite Piper. "Somehow."

"No, you won't. But that's not my problem." Piper sounded almost uninterested now.

"You never know. Haven't you seen that movie "Life is beautiful", where that man hides that cute little boy in the nazi camp, and the stupid germans never find out about it?" Lorna smiled.

"I have seen that movie. The father dies, it's one of the saddest movies ever made." Piper retorted.

"Well, I think it'll be fun. Having a little baby in here. It'll be just like running one of those daycare centers!" Piper's harsh comment had obviously bounced of Lorna like rain on a raincoat.

"My former fiancée has a baby now. Or, rather, he lives with my former best friend, who is his new girlfriend, and her baby…" Piper sighed.

"Jeez. Sounds like you have quite a paradise waiting for you on the outside…" Nicky said with a smirk, just as Mr. Healy's voice could be heard from the hallway.

"Chapman, get out here. Now!"

"That's my cue." Piper got on her feet. She let her eyes wander from Lorna to Nicky and back to Lorna again. "A hug, before I go? Even though I don't agree with you about the baby-thing? We've still shared some rough time this past year, after all."

Lorna nodded and leaned into the hug Piper was offering. "Oh, FYI, we decided saying the word B.A.B.Y might be risky, so the code word is "potato" now. Or is it "toothbrush?" She turned to Nicky with a look of confusion on her face.

"She doesn't need to know, she's leaving," Nicky said, getting up. She put her arms around Piper as well. "Bye, Chapman. Have a beer for me tonight, OK?"

"Chapman, come on now!" Mr. Healy sounded irritated this time, and Piper quickly grabbed her things.

"I will. I promise." And with that, she was gone.

Red's baby seemed to be obeying its mother's orders of staying inside her. Christmas was getting closer, and Red just kept getting heavier and larger with each passing day.

"Another week now and my back will just collapse like a soufflé!" she complained to Nicky one day, when they were alone in the TV-room.

"Man, I'm glad it's not me who has to push that thing out. It's gotta be the size of a small space ship by now…" Nicky laughed and put a hand on Red's belly. "Hey, you in there? Are you coming out any time soon? Coming home for Christmas, maybe? Ready to join us here in the chain gang?"

"Speaking of gang, where is everyone today?" Red asked, looking around.

"Most of them are practicing for the Christmas show, I guess. Hey, I heard someone suggested you as the Virgin Mary this year. Wouldn't that be something, huh?" Nicky laughed.

"Might be a bit of a stretch…" Red smirked. "So you didn't audition this year, then?"

"Nah. Somebody's gotta stay here and look after you, you ticking bomb." Nicky stuffed another pretzel in her mouth from the packet on the table in front of them. "So, do you have everything ready now?" she asked, crumbs flying from her mouth.

"Clean rags, sterilizing booze, some pads that will have to make do as diapers until I have something better…" Red summed up. "I think we're as prepared as we can be."

"Have you got a name yet?" Nicky wondered.

"If it's a boy: Dmitri." Red stroked her belly gently. "I haven't decided on a name for a girl yet. But it'll come to me in good time."

"You can't do any worse than my folks, that's for sure. Who the hell names their kid "Nicole Nichols"? I mean, that's just copy-paste. No creativity what so ever."

"Well, one could claim you have experimented enough to make up for the whole family." Red struggled to get to her feet. "I have to go and pee again. What does that make, 30 minutes this time?"

"31 and a half, Nicky said, looking up at the clock on the wall. "Not bad, really."

A few minutes later, as Red was on her way back from the toilet, a sudden sharp pain hit her like a lightning, forcing her to stop and lean against the corridor wall. The feeling filled her with both anticipation and terror. She was extremely tired of being pregnant and couldn't wait for that part to be over, but at the same time she knew that this was the beginning of something that could potentially be extremely difficult.

The pain was reaching its peak, and she had to place both palms against the wall and arch her back to help relieve it. It had been more than 20 years since her last labor had started, but she couldn't remember that any of her sons' deliveries had hurt this much from the very beginning. She even had to let out a small grunt of discomfort.

As she was standing there, leaning on the wall and pulling faces, someone came down the corridor, towards her. She froze when she noticed, and tensed up even more when she realized who it was. It was Sam Healy.


	7. Chapter 7 - Behind closed doors

**Behind closed doors**

As Mr. Healy was approaching from one end of the corridor, Nicky was coming from the other.

"Red, what the fuck is taking you so… Oh shit!" She interrupted herself when she saw the correctional officer.

Red's pain was beginning to fade away, and she forced herself to straighten up and act like everything was ok.

"I'm coming, Nicky, just had to sort out a few things…"

The other two had both come right up to her now.

"What's up, Red? You looked as if you were dying just now. Are you in some kind of pain?" Mr. Healy asked.

"It's just my back. A pinched nerve, it bothers me from time to time. Nothing to worry about." Red was still a bit unsteady, and she grabbed Nicky's arm for support. "I've been complaining about it all week. Nicky and the others are sick of listening to me now."

"Yeah, sure. We're totally fed up. She complains about that back all day long," Nicky played along.

"Maybe we should get you a doctor. You really don't look too well," Mr. Healy persisted.

"No, no. No doctor. I feel much better now. Really." Red tried to sound as convincing as she could.

"Well, if you're sure." Mr. Healy shrugged. "Nichols, you'll escort her back to her bunk, let her lie down for a bit, eh?"

"Yeah. Yes, sir. Let's go, Red." Nicky let the older woman lean on her as they made their way down the hall.

As Mr. Healy watched them walk away, Joe Caputo came towards him from behind.

"Ah there you are, I was just looking for you. I just wanted to…" the warden's assistant began, before he noticed that Healy was looking at the two women who were walking away. "Oh, jeez, it that Red? She really let herself go after that husband of hers cashed out, huh?"

"Yeah, looks like it." Sam Healy turned towards his colleague. "You were saying?"

Not long after, Red's cubicle was as full of people as a toy store on the last shopping day before Christmas.

"Now, just imagine a beautiful rainbow, little bluebirds flying around it, and all those beautiful colors… And a slight breeze…" Yoga Jones had come straight from the rehearsals for the Christmas play, where she was going to portray Joseph this year, and was sitting at the end of Red's bed with a cape over her shoulders, a shepherd's hook in her hand and a fake beard tied to her face. "And all the little birds are chirping, it's a wonderful, soothing sound…"

"Soothing, my ass!" Red's face wrenched in pain as a contraction was building. "I've never felt less soothed in my life!"

"Maybe we take a rain check on those relaxing exercises, Yoga," Nicky suggested. She was sitting in the pillow end of the bed, with Red's head in her lap. "How are you holding up there, mama? Should we get you into the utility room soon?"

Red couldn't reply, but simply bit her teeth together and nodded.

"Right." Nicky looked around. "Boo, Lorna, you two should go and see if the coast is clear. If it is, then we'll get her in there as soon as this round's over."

"Who made you queen of Birthville?" Boo asked, in a sulky voice. She was playing the ox, and had little horns made of pipe cleaners on her head. Lorna was reprising her role as Virgin Mary, and had a belly even larger than Red's.

"I crowned myself. Now, on your way to Bethlehem! Get going!" Nicky made it clear that she wouldn't take any crap from anyone today.

A few minutes later when Mary and the ox came back, Red was feeling a little better. The two "secret agents" however returned from their mission looking rather blue.

"The utility room is closed," Bo informed the others.

"What? I hid all my stuff in there, all the things we're going to need!" Red sat up slightly, with a look of shock on her face.

"What do we do now? That was the perfect spot, no one ever goes there!" Nicky was upset, too.

"I don't know what to tell ya, all I know is that that door is very, very locked. I tried to pull it open with all the strength I could muster. Can't be done," Boo said, sitting down on the bunk that had once belonged to Piper.

"Maybe we could get someone to open it?" Lorna suggested.

"Yeah right…" Nicky scoffed. "Let's just walk up to a guard and say _´Hello, kind sir, would you please open this door for us? You see, Red wants to give birth to her baby in there, do you mind?´_ Get real, Morello!"

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas!" Lorna shot back.

"Girls, please…" Red sat up properly and slowly swung her legs off the mattress. "Whatever we do, we can't stay here. Pretty soon there will be people all around. Guards will walk by. And once these pains get worse I won't be able to keep my mouth shut. I remember that much from last time."

"So, where do we go?" Nicky opened her arms in an enquiring gesture.

"Perhaps I can be of help." It was Sophia, she was suddenly standing in the cubicle opening, looking in on them all. She had to smile when she saw all of their disoriented faces looking up at her. "Oh yes, I know. You guys aren't that good at keeping secrets."

"Who else knows?" Nicky got on her feet, with a look of seriousness and mistrust on her face. "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

"Calm down, little miss Bodyguard. No, I haven't, but I can't be the only one who's guessed." Sophia took some steps closer to the rest. "I lived with a pregnant woman for nine months, I know what they're like."

"Mendoza knows, too," Red admitted to the group.

"And you said that girl, Taystee, had found out," Gina reminded her.

"The way I see it, you're gonna need all the support you can get in this matter, Red. I think your best chance of keeping that baby in here without the guards finding out, is to include all the inmates. Let everyone in on this." Sophia sounded as if she had given the matter a lot of thought.

"Telling everyone here? No way!" Nicky said, her voice firm and resolute. "That's not happening."

"Let's take one thing at the time, shall we? Right now I just want to find a safe place to get this baby out of me!" Red looked up at Sophia. "You said you could be of help?"

"I was thinking you could come up to the salon. The guards rarely go near it, and I've got plenty of towels and running water." Sophia smiled. "It's not a birth suite at some luxury clinic, but it beats the broom closet. Also, I took some EMT-classes when I first became a firefighter. I learned a thing or two about deliveries. I could help you, if you like."

"That's a deal!" Red just got the words out before another contraction hit, and she had to bite her lip not to scream. Suddenly Sophia was kneeling in front of her.

"Breathe through it… In through your nose, and out through your mouth," she instructed, and Red tried to comply. "Now, we're going to go to the salon as soon as you're feeling ready to walk for a bit. I think you should only take one or two people with you in there. Having a whole block with you might be too stressful…" Sophia was talking in a calm, almost trance-inducing, voice.

"Look, if you think you can just come in here and start making decisions like that…" Nicky began, but Red cut her off.

"Nicky and Norma! I will take Nicky and Norma, and Sophia, not the rest of you."

"Hey!" Lorna objected to the fact that she was left on the outside.

"End of… discussion!" Red growled, as the pain was getting worse. "And I think we should go as soon as possible. This baby isn't going to wait much longer."


	8. Chapter 8 - A Child Is Born

A Child Is Born

"Blya! Dermo! Yebat!" The Russian swear-phrases poured from Red's mouth as she was trying to get through the worst contraction so far. She was lying on the floor of Sophia's salon, leaning her head against Norma's chest. Norma, who was still partially dressed in a shepherd-costume after rehearsal, was leaning against the counter. Nicky was also sitting on the floor, next to them, flipping through one of Sophia's old magazines.

"You know, I read somewhere that there was this German Gestapo-guy during World War II, who had a theory that if a female Soviet spy who pretended to be German got pregnant and had to give birth, she'd end up swearing in her own language, so she'd blow her cover." Nicky smirked. "I guess the guy had a point."

"How very fucking interesting!" Red was not in the mood for trivia.

"Here." Sophia, who had been standing by the sink, walked over to them and handed Nicky a cloth soaked in cold water. "Stop talking for a bit and concentrate on being of help. You can start by wiping Red's forehead with this."

Nicky sent Sophia a look filled with resistance and bad attitude, but found it best to shut up and do as she was told. She clumsily began dabbing the cloth against Red's temple, just as another contraction hit.

"For fuck's sake!" Red bit her teeth together. "Nicky, give me your hand!" She didn't wait for a reply; she simply grabbed the younger woman's hand and squeezed it.

"Ow! Geez, you're strong when you're giving birth!" Nicky felt as if the bones in her fingers were being crushed. "I thought I was lucky to be one of your selected helpers here, but now I'm not so sure." The contraction began fading, and Red's grasp became less agonizing. "Hey, why did you choose us, anyway?" Nicky tried to make the question sound like it was no big deal, but she really wanted to know.

"Well…" Red let go of Nicky, and leaned heavily on Norma's chest, trying to relax as much as possible before the next contraction sat it. "I chose Norma because she is able to shut up. And I chose you because I knew you'd never shut up about it if I didn't." Despite her exhaustion, she managed a sly smile. "No, Nicky. I wanted you here because… you're my "Spock", isn't that how you put it once?"

Before Nicky could reply, Red's face wrenched up again. "Vse zayebalo!" she spat out as the pains once again commenced.

"Red, I think it's time I help you get those pants off now." Sophia knelt down on the floor with the others. "I need to see what's going on down here." Red nodded from somewhere deep in a cloud of agony, but Sophia still glanced over at Nicky, as if to see if she had any objections. There were none, all of Nicky's opposition was like blown away. "Yeah, Sophia's gonna have a look, and you're gonna squeeze the fuck out of my hand again!" she said, extending her hand so that Red could reach it. "Come on!" It didn't matter to her what Sophia or Norma or any of the others did anymore. She was Red's Spock, and that was enough.

Over in Red's cubicle, the rest of her girls were still gathered. They were sitting in silence, not really knowing what would come next.

"What if they're not back for the headcount? The guards will start to wonder, won't they"? Lorna suddenly said.

"What if they _are_ back for the headcount? What is Red supposed to do, line up with a screaming little thing in her arms?" Boo made a face. "This is looking grim, ladies, real grim."

"I just hope they all come back, full stop. Both Red and her baby." Sister Ingalls said. "Childbirth at her age is no joke."

"It's never a joke. Trust me, I know." The whole group turned towards the cubicle entrance when they heard Mendoza's voice. "So. It's started, has it?"

"Yup." Boo answered on everyone's behalf. "New inmate expected to arrive by the end of the day."

"I'll make a brew and say some words for good luck." Mendoza offered.

"Thanks, that's very nice of you." Yoga smiled. "She'll probably need all the luck she can get."

"Red is tough, she'll be fine. But I'll do it anyway, it can't hurt." Gloria tried to sound as if she wasn't the least bit worried. Nevertheless, as she walked away, heading towards the kitchen to find what she needed, she couldn't help but to think that Red would need both luck and strength, and lots of both parts, to get through something like this.

"Push, Red, it's coming now!" Sophia's voice was somehow whispering and shouting at the same time. "I can see the head, just keep pushing!"

"You can do this, ma!" Nicky had to make an effort to keep her voice down as well. Norma was in her usual "mute"-mode, but her face showed just as much excitement as those of the other two.

"Too…hard. Too…big! " Red moaned, her eyes closed and her head hanging off her neck like on a ragdoll. "I'm so tired."

"Come on now. You're doing this for Dmitri, remember?" Nicky put both her hands around one of Red's and rubbed it gently. "Not just for him either. You're doing this for all of us, Red. You're giving us all a little piece of freedom here! Showing us that there's more to life than the Litch! I don't mean to sound like some pastor from those hallelujah-shows on TV, but you're bringing some hope for the future into this hole, Goddammit!"

"She's right, Red. One more push, and you'll be done," Sophia encouraged. "You've worked so hard, you can't quit now."

Red gathered the last of her strength, took a deep breath, lifted her head, and pushed.

"That's it, here we go!" Sophia let her hands gently guide the baby into the world. "Nicky, you have to see this."

"No thanks, I'm good." Nicky was fighting hard to keep from fainting as it was. The room had been spinning around her for a while.

Finally, Red let out a final grunt and let her head fall back down onto Norma's chest. "What is it?" she gasped, completely exhausted.

"It's a girl!" Sophia announced, wiping the baby off with a towel. "A big, pink, baby girl!"

"The girl we never got." Red was smiling now. "Dima's last little trick."

Before anyone could say or do anything else there was a loud knock on the door.

"Hello?" All four of them were relieved to hear that the voice from outside belonged to Lorna. "I don't know if you're getting close to finishing up in there, but I just wanted to say that the headcount starts in a bit…"

That night, when O'Neill made his round in dorm A, Red wasn't lined up by the bunks with the others. "We're missing Reznikow. Has anyone seen her?" he called out.

"In here." It was an unmistakable, raspy voice. When the guard peeked into the cubicle, he saw the missing inmate lying in her bunk, with her blanket pulled all the way up to her chin. "Sorry for the inconvenience, my back is killing me. Mr. Healy said I should stay in bed."

"That's OK." He clicked the counting device in his hand one final time. "Thank you, ladies." Then he left the room.

Red smiled to herself and pulled the comforter down a few inches. There, on her chest, lay the newest inhabitant of dorm A, looking up at her with dark eyes and a puzzled expression on her face.

"I know it's not a very nice place I've brought you into, but I'm going to keep you safe here, I promise" she whispered. "In some ways, you're a very lucky girl. You're surrounded by people who want nothing but the best for you. Did you see how they carried your old mama in here just now? They're making an effort to keep you safe here with me. You can't put a price on something like that." She ran a finger over her daughter's little head. "I am going to name you Nadezhda. Nadia for short. That means "hope". And you are a symbol of hope, even if you're too young to realize it yet."

Little Nadia yawned. "Yes, you are right. It's time to go to sleep now." Red had to let out a yawn herself. "Tomorrow will be a challenge of it's own. We have to be ready for it." As she drifted into sleep, she wondered how it was possible to be this happy and this terrified at the same time. She had the world's greatest treasure in her arms, and she knew that at any moment, someone could take that treasure away from her. It was a horrifying thought, and she tried to push it away as best she could.


	9. Chapter 9 - Come together

**Come together**

"OK, we're getting ready for takeoff!" Nicky was entering Red's cubicle with a smile on her face. Red was sitting curled up in bed with Nadia in her lap. "I talked to everyone this morning. Mendoza's handling the hispanics, Sophia and Taystee are covering the blacks, Sister Ingalls is on the Golden Oldies and the others and Gina and Boo went to see the dumbass laundry girls."

"Good. Sophia was right, it's the only sensible thing to do." Red lifted the baby up to her shoulder. "Although maybe 'dumbass' isn't quite in line with the idea of respect and community we talked about when we made this decision. Forgetting old sins, working together for a mutual goal, united against a common enemy, does that ring a bell?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'The super-intelligent young women who clean our clothes', is that better?" Nicky smirked.

"Much." Red nodded.

"And how's your day been? Weren't they suspicious when you asked for sick leave?" Nicky wondered.

"No. When an old, fat lady like me complains that she has a bad back, people tend to believe it." Just as Red replied, Ingalls, Boo and Gina entered the dorm.

"Everybody's in!" Boo could proudly announce. "All our agents have reported back, we have 100 % backing among all inmate groups."

"Oh, good!" Red exhaled deeply, feeling relieved. "That makes everything easier."

"Everyone seemed so excited!" Sister Ingalls displayed a face that clearly showed she was pretty excited herself. "I don't know if it's the secrecy and pulling one over on the guards that they find appealing, or the idea of helping an innocent little soul, especially now with the holiday spirit and all."

"Who cares, eh? As long as they're in." Gina smiled one of her rare smiles.

"Now it's all of us against a few guards. This is gonna be easy!" Nicky said, as she flung herself down on the bunk next to Red.

"Nah, I don't know about that. We're still talking about hiding a living creature in a place where the phrase "squat and cough" is used on a regular basis," Boo reminded her. "I'm no expert on babies, but as far as I know they mainly do two things; cry and smell. Both bad activities if you don't want to be found."

"True," Red agreed. "Luckily it seems that little Nadia is the quiet kind." She held the baby up in front of her. "Aren't you, my dear?"

"I tried to listen for her this morning while I was getting up. I barely heard a peep!" Sister Ingalls said. "A few whimpering sounds, that was all."

"Yeah, I woke up from her whining, so I stuck a tit in her mouth and she shut up immediately. I used the same trick on her father back in the day, worked on him, too!" Red's joke made everyone giggle.

"So what happens next?" Gina asked.

"Now, we make plans." Red became serious. "We have to keep track of where everyone is, at all times. We have to be one step ahead of the ones who think they can control our lives." She pointed over to her desk, where there was a big folder full of paper. "Now, if you only flip through the first pages of that thing, you will find lists of new seeds and fertilizer for the greenhouse, but most of what's in there is in fact schedules. I have begun creating a system, so that someone will be able to look after my daughter through every minute of every day."

And so began a new era at Litchfield; the era of Nadia. The little bundle was carefully handed from person to person in hallways and bathrooms. Guards were distracted with the most ridiculous stories to prevent them from entering the wrong rooms at the wrong times. Large sanitary pads that could be cut into a primitive form of diapers were bought in heaps from commissary, and discreetly passed on to Red, as if they were secret documents of great importance.

As a result of the common project, inmates who had previously not been talking to each other, either because of old quarrels and differences, or simply because they'd had no reason to, suddenly began doing so. Over schedule planning, bottle cleaning (Nadia had learned how to drink from a spout earlier than most babies) and blanket mending, new acquaintanceships and even friendships were formed.

"It's like they all get along better these days, don't you think? Christmas does them good," Caputo commented to Healy during a walk in the corridor one day.

"Yeah, looks like things are finally getting back on track after the whole Parker-affair," Healy agreed. "It's not summer camp, but at least you can't feel the group hate streaming through the dorms anymore."

And then Christmas Eve came. A day not very unlike the rest inside a prison. Still, there were some differences. Slightly better food. A non-religious holiday song being played over the speakers every once in a while. Decorative homemade garlands hanging from the ceiling everywhere, hitting people in their faces if they didn't know when to duck.

Red was in her cubicle with Nadia, waiting for someone to come and stay with the baby while she went to get something to eat. She was hungry, and she knew mealtime would soon be over, but no one had come yet. According to her list, Lorna and Boo were covering the next shift. Unfortunately, Boo could easily forget that she had somewhere to be whenever there was food involved, and Lorna was always in a world of her own. Keeping track of time was not one of her strengths.

"Looks like my Christmas dinner will be a candy bar and a bag of Cheetos, eh, my dear?" she mumbled to the little girl in her lap. "Your mama will give them hell to pay later, you can count on that."

Then suddenly she heard the steps of someone approaching. She looked up and saw Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren standing in front of her.

"What do you want?" Red asked curtly, considering whether or not she should reprimand the younger woman for having intruded her territory.

"I just…" Crazy Eyes seemed nervous. "You know it's Christmas, right?"

"So I've been told." Red couldn't help but to wonder where this was going.

"My parents aren't coming, they're in Aruba… And my sister's not coming either."

"What's that to me?" Red got on her feet and turned her back to Warren as she put Nadia down on the bunk to wrap the blanket more tightly around her.

"I'm not getting any gifts this year. And that's ok, I don't really need nothing." Crazy Eyes took a deep breath, as she was finally getting ready to reveal the core of her message. "All I want for Christmas is to look after your little girl for a while. All the others get to do it, but I haven't been asked once."

"_There are reasons for that,"_ Red thought to herself. Crazy Eyes was on a special "only-if-everyone-else-is-in-the-SHU"-list along with Pensatucky and a few others.

"Taystee let me hold her once, just for a few seconds, but… I really just want a minute or two. I love babies. Babies are so… good. And little. And soft." The look in Crazy Eyes' face was somewhere inbetween "very enthusiastic" and "just plain scary". Red hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "All right. If you promise to sit here and not move an inch until I get back. And only because I am about to die of starvation. If you so much as harm a hair on her head, I will break every bone in your body, is that understood?" The tone of her voice made it clear that she meant every word.

Crazy Eyes nodded profusely, sat down, and held her arms out. Red carefully let the baby sink into them.

"Now, I am going to go in there and eat the fastest Christmas dinner anyone has ever eaten in the history of time. Don't make me regret this."

"No worries, little Pink and I will be here when you get back!" Crazy Eyes promised.

"Her name is Nadia!" Red said, sternly.

"Oh, I know, I just always think of her as Pink. Because you're Red, and she's like, a milder version. And because she's all pink. Pink like a little piglet. I love piglets, too, they're good, just like babies."

Red sighed deeply one more time as she left the room, but couldn't help but to smile a little once she was out of sight. "Pink like a piglet…" she mumbled to herself as she walked towards the cafeteria, smelling the lovely odors from Mendoza's kitchen already.

Meanwhile, Suzanne Warren was enjoying the moment. This was turning out to be the best Christmas she'd had in many years.

"You brought something good into this place, Pink," she whispered in Nadia's little ear. "I hope we can keep you here forever."

_Author's note: I'm going away for a few days, but I'll try getting out one more chapter before I go. If not, it'll be some time next week. Hope you enjoyed this one._


	10. Chapter 10 - Ain't no sunshine

**Ain't no sunshine when she's gone**

"I might be getting out." The words were not spoken with joy or excitement. From the tone of Nicky's voice one might have thought she was telling news of a death sentence. "I'm going up in front of a committee next week."

It was a cold day in the beginning of February, and the temperature inside the greenhouse was almost as low as outside. Nadia's cheeks were tinted a rosy red by the winter air as she sat on her mother's lap, with a blanket around her, sucking her own fingers, while Red was listening to what Nicky had to say.

"I don't know if I actually want to go. I mean… I wouldn't know where to go, for a start. My folks don't want anything to do with me and I don't really wanna see them either." She sighed. "In here, I've got a family. You, and Nadia, and the others. And I know what I'm doing, I'm in control. I can make baby-schedules or fix wires or say the right things to make Luschek snap out of a bad mood. Out there, I can't do anything. Except drugs. Those I can do."

"That's bullshit." Red wasn't sugarcoating her reply. "You get a chance to get out of this hole, you go. Or, even better, you run." She got up from the box she had been sitting on and placed the baby on her hip. "This is not real life, Nicky. What we have in here is a waiting room, a departure hall. We're all waiting to take the next step, moving on, to get somewhere. Since I got Nadia, I'm waiting more impatiently than ever." She walked closer to the younger woman and ran her fingers through Nicky's messy hair. "If you get a chance to actually live your life, the way you're meant to live it, than you have to take that chance. For all of us."

"But what if I can't? What if I fuck everything up, like I always do? You won't be there to reel me in and yell at me."

"Oh, I'll find a way. My wrath extends beyond prison walls," Red said, slyly. "Besides, you're a big girl now. You don't need your mama to hold your hand every step of the way." She placed her hand under Nicky's chin and lifted it so that they looked each other in the eye. "But that doesn't mean I won't miss you. I will. Very much."

"Stop that. I might not get to go. Nothing's for sure yet, you know… We'll see." Nicky shrugged and stood up. "Anyway, we should get back inside. They'll start looking for us."

The routine when Nadia was taken from one place to another was always the same; it was a two-person-job minimum. This time, Nicky was the "scout" who secured each area, before whistling a certain signal to Red, who would follow a short distance behind, with the baby. Moving in this manner took some time, and all of ten minutes had passed when they finally arrived in the empty dorm.

"I've got to go get some stuff while commissary's still open. Need anything?" Nicky asked, after having double-checked the hall to make sure there were no guards approaching.

"No, I'm good. I have to go and put Nadia down for a nap." The baby on Red's hip was beginning to whine."

"You're staying here with her all evening? Or should I save a seat at movie night?"

"Save the seat. Maria and some of the others said they'd take her." Red lifted Nadia up to her shoulder and stroked her back, hoping that would stop the whimpering. "They've had her a lot lately, sometimes I swear it sounds like she's crying in a Puerto Rican accent."

Nicky giggled. "All right, catch ya later."

Red kept stroking the baby's back as she went into her cubicle. Once she rounded the corner, she was startled by what she saw in there. On her bunk, sitting quietly in the corner in the foot end of the bed, was Mr. Healy.

"The game is over, Red," he said, standing up and taking a few steps towards her. "It's time to give up the baby."

It was as if someone had turned a switch. Suddenly everything was dark and indistinct. When she found herself sitting on a chair in front of Mr. Healy's desk a few minutes later, clutching her now crying daughter to her chest, she wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten there. Out in the hallway, voices were already beginning to whisper.

"They're taking Red's baby! I saw it, Mr. Healy's caught her!"

"They've found out about Nadia! I knew Red couldn't keep her here forever."

"Little Pink is being taken away! Can't we do something? Can't we stop them?"

"I've known for a while," Healy said as he sat down opposite Red. "I remember the day I saw you go into labor. You thought you'd fooled me, but that wasn't really the case." He began pouring coffee from a pot into a mug. "And I've seen her since. I've seen you sneak around with her in the hallways. You're a clever one, Red, but you're not as clever as you think."

Sam Healy's words were in fact lies. The truth was that he'd known nothing of Litchfield's youngest inmate until the day before, when he'd happened to notice that Red was carrying a suspicious looking bundle as she slipped out of the dorm. At that point he had put two and two together.

"Why didn't you say something before?" Red asked, as she gently rocked Nadia from side to side.

"Well…" Healy took a sip from his mug. "I kinda wanted to see how long you could keep it up. But it's gone too far, now. I've alerted the board, already. It's time someone else takes care of her from now on."

Red bit her lip. His words felt like a stab in her heart.

"She's a pretty little thing. What's her name?" Healy asked.

"Nadezhda. I call her Nadia," she whispered into the little girl's hair.

"Well, I'm sorry, Red, but little Nadia is going to have to live with one of her brothers for a while. She can't stay here. You know that." He waited for her to say something, but Red didn't respond, she just kept rocking her child.

"Ok, then…" Healy sat up on his chair, put his mug down on the desk, and picked up his phone. "I'm calling Child Protective Services."

_Author's note: Next update will be sometime next week. _


	11. Chapter 11 - Somebody's Hero

**Somebody's Hero**

"So, who's it gonna be?" The man from CPS, who had introduced himself as Mr. Smith, looked at Red over a pair of round glasses. From the moment he had walked into Mr. Healy's office she felt as if he'd been looking down on her in a sanctimonious sort of way. His whole appearance radiated of smug, self-righteous bastard, in her eyes.

"It'll have to be Vasily. The other two are no good." She knew that Yuri was somewhere down south chasing after his beloved Sparkle-Tits, but she wasn't sure where. Maxim hadn't been heard from for almost a year, so he was also out of the question. She wasn't too sure about turning to Vasily either. For one thing he'd probably feel betrayed that she hadn't told him about the arrival of his little sister. Also, he and his on-and-off girlfriend already had one child to bring up. Even though Vasily was a good man who'd probably try and treat the children equally, she had no guarantee that his dear Lida would do the same. In her mind she pictured a Cinderella-scenario, where Nadia was forced to clean floors while Vasily's son mocked her and ate her food.

"Ah, yes, that's the one you thought it would be," Smith said to Mr. Healy. "I ran a check on him before I came." He reached into his suitcase and pulled out some papers. "Here we are: Vasily Reznikov, arrested after his second aggravated DUI on February 3rd. Last week, that is. Trial still pending, but there will be jail time." Smith smiled a derisive smile. "So that's one felon. And your other two sons are 'no good' according to you. Thank God we're not letting you keep this kid. You're not going to be named Mother Of The Year any time soon, are you?"

She didn't grant him a response, as she shifted Nadia from one of her knees to the other. In her head she repeated the word 'Fuck!' over and over, but there wasn't a sound from her lips.

"Got any other ideas, Red?" Mr. Healy looked almost apologetic, as if he was slightly ashamed of having brought this asshole into the same room as her.

"Maybe." She had only one person left now.

"Are you fucking insane?" Nicky jumped off her bunk, clearly outraged by Red's suggestion. "I can't take care of a kid! I can't even take care of myself!"

"Stop yelling. Please." Red grabbed Nicky by both hands and looked her in the eyes. "There's no one else. They've already taken her to some kind of home. I guess that's a euphemism for "orphanage". I had to hand her over to this awful, gruesome man, who held her all wrong and said something about how she'd be glad to go somewhere where she'd get real clothes." Red's voice was cracking now. "I dressed her well, and fed her well, and kept her clean, you know I did."

"Yeah, I know. You did everything you could for her…" Nicky was interrupted before she could get any further.

"And now they're saying that if I can't find a home for her within a reasonable amount of time, she'll be put into foster care."

"Maybe that won't be so bad…" Nicky tried, but was cut off again.

"Not so bad? You know that half the girls in here come from homes like that. If they haven't been sent from place to place every six months or so, they've been abused, or bullied." Red looked down, blinking tears out of her eyes.

"I'm sure there are _some_ good homes…" Nicky tried again.

"Well, I won't play roulette with Nadia's life like that. Sending her to strangers in the hope that she might be one of the lucky ones." Red dropped Nicky's hands and rubbed her own eyes with her thumbs.

"So you want me to take her instead? That's like betting all your money on a lame horse." Nicky sighed. "Look, I'm sorry your son is going to prison. I'm sorry that means your daughter has to go into care. But I can't do anything about it. I'm not fit to look after a dog. Or a hamster. Not even one of those insects that only live for like a week. I just can't do it."

"Nicky, listen…" Red began, but this time she was the one being interrupted.

"No, you listen!" Nicky had a firm expression on her face. "I won't do this. I won't do it, because I love your little girl. Seriously, she's the coolest little kid I've ever met. She's got that weird little smile, and her laugh is freakishly similar to mine even though I laugh like the old junkie that I am, and when you pull those five strands of hair she has up on her head and ruffle it, she looks kinda like Bert from Sesame Street. She's awesome, and she deserves everything. And I can never give her that. Trust me, I know what it's like growing up in a home where there shouldn't be children; it's shit."

Red took a deep breath, and exhaled, as if she had to gather her thoughts. Then she sat down on Nicky's bunk, and motioned that Nicky should do the same.

"I know you're scared about making it on your own. Every time you've tried, you've failed. Some people sail though life as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Others have trouble taking each step." She placed her hand on the younger woman's arm. "But you see, Nicky, sometimes it's harder to do something for yourself than to do it for someone else. If it's only you who'll fall, then it's not such a big deal if you stumble. But if you have someone else to look after, if someone else falls when you take the wrong steps, then you have to watch where you're going. When you're somebody's everything, you're committed. Committed to doing your best. "

Nicky swallowed. "Yeah, I guess, but…"

"And I'm not saying it's easy. Jesus, when Dmitri and I had our first we had no idea what we were getting into. But you pull yourself together, and you get through it. Every day. Because you have to."

"But… you know me. I'm just not the type." Nicky's voice was weak and thin, now. "I'm not some perfect know-it-all woman who remembers to put on sunblock and washes grass stains off jeans and makes pancakes and shit."

"Oh, Nicky, it's not about those things." Red let her hand run back and forth over Nicky's arm. "What matters is that Nadia has someone who's there for her. Someone who cares. All that other stuff can be fixed somehow. You can always call me and ask which detergent to use or what the oven should be set to." She looked into the younger woman's eyes once more. "You're right; I do know you. And I trust you. I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

Nicky remained silent for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Let me think about it, OK? I can't make a decision like this without thinking it through."

"Of course." Red nodded. "Take your time. Just… not too long."

Two days later, Healy and Caputo were walking together down the corridor towards Caputo's office.

"So, now Nichols wants the kid?" Caputo wanted to get up to speed on Litchfield's newest subject of gossip. "She's getting out already?"

"She was supposed to go in fall, but there's some kind of new law reform, so apparently she might get out now," Mr. Healy explained. "Now, about Red. Is she getting any more years on her sentence because of this whole thing?"

Caputo shook his head. "Nah… If we make a case against her, some news service is going to go through the paperwork and find out that she was able to hide the kid her for two months. Then it's all over the media, and we look like idiots. Better to lay low."

By now they had reached the door to the office, where Smith was waiting inside. Red and Nicky were lined up by the door. Both were nervous, Red was biting her fingernails, and Nicky was constantly running her fingers through her hair every ten seconds or so. She'd let Red comb through it for the occasion, and it felt strangely smooth. She wasn't wearing her normal load of eyeliner, either, and she felt naked without it.

"Ladies…" Caputo mumbled as he held the door open for them. Once in the room, Nicky sat down on the closest chair, crossed her arms over her chest and kept her mouth shut. Red on the other hand, went right up to the man who was waiting inside.

"How is she?" she demanded to know.

"Your kid? I have no idea. I just hand them over. She's someone else's problem now." Smith didn't even look up from his papers as he replied.

"Sit down now, Red." Mr. Healy could see that Red was fighting an urge to rip Smith's balls off. "Sit down, so that we can find a solution to this. That's why we're here."

"Right." Smith kept flipping through his folders while Red took a seat next to Nicky. "We're here to discuss the future of a two-month old unnamed child, known in the paperwork as 'Baby Litchfield'…"

"She has a name!" Red couldn't keep quiet. "Her name is Nadezhda Reznikov!"

"What's that, some kind of sneeze? She's been unregistered since she was born. As far as we're concerned, she doesn't have a name yet," Smith said, curtly. Red was fuming with anger, and Healy knew he had to jump in.

"Let's refer to the baby as "Baby Reznikov" for the time being, why don't we? That's a fair compromise."

Smith shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."

"Miss Nichols, I understand that you hope to be released very soon," Mr. Caputo began. "And that you're willing to be the guardian of Mrs. Reznikov's child while she serves the rest of her time here."

" Yeah… Yes," Nicky said, tensely. "That's right."

"And you feel as if you're ready to take on this task?" Caputo continued.

"Yes." Nicky untangled her arms and sat up straight. "I do."

"Let's see here…" Smith pulled out a new folder. "Nicole Nichols. Sentenced for several crimes related to narcotics. Both possession and sale."

"That's all behind me now." Nicky tried to sound confident. "I'm not that girl anymore."

"You've been released in the past, but you've ended up imprisoned again after only a few months each time…" Smith kept reading from the file. "How are you planning to support yourself when you get out? Is there a job waiting for you? An apartment?"

"Not yet, but I'll…" Nicky began, but she didn't get any further before Smith slammed her file shut.

"No, this won't do. We do not hand little babies over to homeless addicts. Miss Nichols is not suited to become a guardian."

"May I remind you that she is an ex-addict, and that she's been on exemplary good behavior while in here…" Caputo tried, but his efforts were useless.

"Being at the center of a plot to fool every guard in this place by hiding a child for several months doesn't sound much like exemplary good behavior to me." Smith's voice was firm. "My decision is final. She's not getting the baby."


	12. Chapter 12 - New Beginning

**New Beginning**

She'd been staring up into this ceiling more times than she could count over the past years. She knew every rivet and every crack. Over the last week she'd found herself staring up there throughout most of the night. She'd gotten so used to having a little person on her chest, a little heart pounding in sync with her own, that she was now unable to sleep without it.

It was daytime now, but it was all the same to her. What did it matter, now that everything was as fucked up as it could ever be? She closed her eyes and thought back to a time when life seemed easy. She could see it all: Herself, young and beautiful, and with long, brown hair all the way down to her waist. Sunday afternoons in the park with Dmitri and the boys. Maxim learning to ride his bike, Yuri begging for a second ice cream, and Vasily falling asleep in his pushchair. Dmitri holding her hand while going on and on about the new restaurant he wanted to start up.

Where had it all gone? Dmitri was dead, the little boys were all grown up and scattered all over the place. Vasily was heading to prison; he was about to be sent into the same kind of shithole she'd been living in for all these years. And now, Nadia was gone too.

She couldn't help but to let a few tears escape the corners of her eyes. Her and Dmitri's little girl was going to be raised by strangers.

"Red, they're calling your name." It was Gina, walking up to her cubicle. "You'd better go."

"I don't want to." Quite frankly, she didn't see the point of getting up ever again.

"Come on, Bell's on duty. You don't wanna get yourself into trouble."

Red sighed deeply, as she crawled out of bed, and headed towards the corridor.

"You have a visitor." Bell informed her when she reached the end of the hall.

"It's not visitation day. And I'm not expecting anybody," Red grunted.

"Well, this visitor's a bit out of the ordinary. You can have the visitation room all to yourselves." Bell opened the door behind her to let Red see who was waiting for her in there. It was Piper.

"What are you doing here?" Red asked, as the guard closed the door, leaving the two women to themselves.

"Nicky called me." Piper put her hands in the pockets of her jeans. It was strange for Red to see her in clothes from the outside world, but she didn't comment on it. "Not just Nicky. First it was Sophia, then Lorna. Then Poussey, and Gina, and then Ingalls and Mendoza. When Nicky actually called me herself, I was already on my way out the door. I knew I had to talk to you."

"Talk to me about what?" Red was confused. Why hadn't Nicky told her that she'd been in touch with Chapman?

"About your little girl." Piper smiled. "They all say she's beautiful. I never got to say "congratulations" before I left."

"Well, as you know, you were right the whole time." Red averted her eyes. "I couldn't hide her. They've taken her from me."

"Yes. That's what's Nicky wanted to talk to me about." Piper hesitated a bit before she continued. "You know… When I got out of here, my life was kinda shit. My ex was just about to marry my former best friend. My parents kept complaining that I'd changed while I was inside. I tried telling them that that's the whole point, that being in prison does that to people. But they just went on and on about how I'd be back to my own self in no time, and how I could stay with them for as long as I liked and how I could take a year of sabbatical and that there's plenty of fish in the sea and… After about a week I couldn't take it anymore. I took off."

"And?" Red wondered where Piper was going with her story.

"I got a job at little shop where they sell and fix electrical appliances." Piper smiled. "Ironic, huh? All those hours with my nose buried in Luschek's dusty manuals actually paid off in the end. I was the only applicant who knew how to fix a panel, so I got hired on the spot. And I'm renting a place. It's in Brooklyn Heights. It's not huge, but it has two bedrooms."

Red's face displayed a hope that she didn't quite dare to believe in.

"Do you mean…?"

"Nicky had it all worked out when she called me. I've never heard her so determined before. She'll sleep on my couch, and we'll make the spare bedroom a nursery. I'll go to work, she'll stay at home until Nadia can go into daycare, and then she'll get a job, too. I'm pretty sure CPS would allow it, since I've only got one sentence on my record, and I've got a steady income and…"

Piper stopped talking as Red put her arms around her, and hugged her tight.

* * *

"So, in signing this contract, you two are taking on the full responsibility of the upbringing of Mrs. Reznikov's child, awaiting her release five years from now." The man from CPS was young, and apparently new at the job. He read every word directly from the piece of paper he was holding; evidently worried that he would forget something.

"And with your signature, Mrs. Reznikov, you confirm that you willingly let them take on that responsibility."

The three women where gathered in Mr. Caputo's office, with them on one side of the desk, and the warden's assistant and the caseworker on the other. Nicky had just said her goodbyes to everyone inside, and was both excited and nervous to be leaving with Piper. The new shirt and pants that she had on weren't quite her size, she wasn't used to wearing sneakers instead of prison boots, and the idea that she'd never seen the apartment that would be her home from now on scared her a bit, but she tried not to let it show.

"Yes, I understand," Red confirmed. "So, no Mr. Smith today, then?" She tried to sound as innocent as she could.

"No, Smith's off duty for the time being. His house burned down, and he didn't have insurance, so he's moving back to his mother in Virgina." The young man smiled. "I'll be taking over some of his cases on a permanent basis, so in a way the whole thing worked out well for me!" He suddenly made a face as he realized that he might have said too much. "Oh, crap, now I've gone and shared information about a co-worker. I've probably broken some kind of confidentiality rule. Shit! And now I've said "crap" and "shit" while on duty. I'm screwing this up on my first day big-time, aren't I?"

Caputo and the three women all had to smile.

"You're not doing too bad," Red assured him, while making a mental note to send her thanks to Ganya.

"Thanks! Well, if either of you have any questions or whatever, just give me a call." The man gathered up the documents from everyone. Then he turned to Nicky and Piper. "You can pick the girl up from the home today, before 5 p.m. . I gave you the address, right?"

"Yup." Piper sent him a smile that made him blush, and he quickly turned to Mr. Caputo to hide it.

"Uhm, I just need to get some copies of these and then we're all set."

"Sure." Caputo got up. "I'll show you where to go. You ladies can just wait in here for a moment."

"So…" Nicky felt relaxed enough to speak once the two men had left the room. "I guess it's official. We're gonna play house."

"You know, when you sleep in a room full of people for a year, and then suddenly you have a home all to yourself, it feels like you're all alone in the world. I've missed hearing other people snore, believe it or not!" Piper said.

"No worries, you won't miss it anymore. I snore like an old, asthmatic dog," Nicky promised. "And Nadia does too, but not as loud. More like a bunny, or a kitten. It's the cutest little sound."

"I can't wait to see her," Piper grinned. Then she glanced over at Red and quickly wiped the smile off her face. "I mean… I don't want…"

"It's OK. I'm happy you'll get to see her, too," Red assured her. "I wish I could get her myself, but I can't, so I'm glad you girls will."

"You know, when I came to tell you I'd be up for this, I was kinda thinking you might not be on board," Piper admitted.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Red wondered.

"Well, we ended on bad terms. And I guess… I guess I never really got into your gang. I was never one of your girls."

"You are, now." Red smiled. "And I think you were well on your way to becoming one back then, too. You know, if you hadn't gotten all stubborn and hard to handle." She winked slyly. Then she looked over at Nicky. "Seriously. You two girls, you both have that in you. You stand up for what you believe in and you don't take crap from others. And that's why you are going to make great role models for Nadia."

"Oh please, don't use hippie-words like that. I hate it." Nicky smirked. "Can't we just skip that crap? We promise to take good care of your kid, and bring her by here as often as we can, and to try and not flush her down the toilet when it's three o'clock in the morning and she won't stop crying. Right, Chapman? Or maybe I'll start have to start calling you Piper from now on."

"Right. We promise." Piper agreed.

Red smiled.

"OK. That'll do."

* * *

"Is it true? Is it for real?" The little brown-haired girl was jumping up and down while holding Piper's hand. "Mama's coming home with us today?"

"It's true." Piper looked over at Nicky, who was closing up the car. "See, I told you we should wait to tell her. If we had said something yesterday, she wouldn't have slept all night."

"Where is Mama going to sleep?" Nadia wondered, as Nicky came over to them, and all three began walking towards the prison building.

"In your room, on a fold out bed. Then later, whenever a four-bedroom becomes available, we're next on the list," Piper explained.

"We can afford that?" Nadia looked up at her with a skeptical face.

"Yeah. We can afford that, now," Piper said, as she winked at Nicky.

"You know, if anyone had told me five years ago that one day 'College' Chapman and I would own and run a successful appliance shop, I'd never have believed them," Nicky giggled.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have bet money on that either," Piper agreed. "Nor on the fact that one day, Nicky Nichols would enter into an elementary school PTA."

"Jeez, you still on that? I told you, my mouth was full of spring roll, and then, boom, I was elected."

"Don't start. I just managed to stop laughing like 15 minutes ago."

They had reached the main door now, and Nicky grabbed Nadia and lifted her up to the telecom. "You know the drill, kid."

Nadia pushed the button and shouted "Visitation for Reznikov!" into the microphone when someone answered at the other end. The lock in the huge sliding door buzzed, and Piper hurried to pull it open, while Nicky put Nadia back down so she could run inside.

Ford was guarding the gate behind the door. He smiled when he saw the little girl run towards him. "Today's the day, huh?"

"Yeah, my Mama's coming home!" Nadia beamed, as Nicky and Piper came up behind her.

"I know. Everybody in here knows. I don't think that woman has slept all week." Ford chuckled, and raised his walkie-talkie to his mouth. "Ford here. You can send Red out now."

Only a few seconds later, the gate opened. And there Red was, her hair freshly dyed and her nails newly painted. She didn't even get a chance to step through the opening before Nadia ran up to her and flung herself towards her waist.

"Mamochka!" the girl exclaimed as her mother lifted her up.

"Nadezhda!" Red held her daughter close as she stepped through the gate. This was it. She was leaving Litchfield Correctional Facility behind for good.

_Author's note: That's it. The ending's a bit cute, maybe, but I was in the mood for some sugar today ;) Just for the record, I've been planning to end it like this since before I started on the first chapter. Thanks for all you nice reviews, I'm very grateful._


End file.
